CLARK FORK — The Wampus Cats took down Troy (Mont.) on Friday night 30-8 to pick up their third win of the season.

The game was called with about three minutes left in the third quarter due to lightning. Clark Fork head coach Brian Arthun said the teams sat in the locker room for about 30 minutes waiting for the storm to pass, but it never did.

The Wampus Cats relied heavily on the ground game and junior running back Carter Sanroman had himself a night. Sanroman finished with four rushing touchdowns.

"Carter Sanroman had a monster game," Arthun said. "He played with outstanding effort. He's got good vision and knows how to make guys miss and he's tough to bring down. He's just a competitor and super tough kid."

Arthun said his team did an excellent job of controlling the line of scrimmage and creating holes in the run game.

"I was just proud of the way we came out under the conditions and we did a really good job of taking care of the ball," he said.

Torrential downpours were scattered throughout the contest forcing both teams to stick to the ground game.

Troy received the opening kickoff and drove all the way down to the Clark Fork 25-yard-line, but the Wampus Cats forced a loss of 25 yards on fourth down to take over at midfield. A few plays later, Sanroman ran it in from five yards out and converted a two-point attempt to give Clark Fork a 8-0 lead with 2:46 left in the first quarter.

The Trojans had trouble snapping the ball all night and on their next possession it cost them. Troy snapped the ball over the quarterback's head and through the back of the end zone for a safety.

Clark Fork got the ball back and Sanroman sprinted in from 20 yards out and the Wampus Cats converted the two-point attempt to take a commanding 18-0 lead with 43 seconds left in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, it looked like the Trojans had cut into the Wampus Cats' lead, but a 62-yard touchdown run on fourth down was called back due to a holding penalty.

Clark Fork capitalized on the mistake as Sanroman found the end zone for a third time. Freshman quarterback Ethan Howard couldn't convert the two-point attempt and the team grabbed a 24-0 advantage.

That was the score at the half as the Clark Fork defense silenced the Troy offense. Arthun thought his defense executed well and he was impressed with the performance of junior Sam Barnett.

"I was proud of our defense," he said. "We bent, but we didn't break and we had a couple of stops in the red zone."

Sanroman ran in another touchdown early in the second half and Troy broke through on the scoreboard to avoid being shut out before mother nature put an end to the action.

At halftime, Clark Fork honored its two seniors — Matthew Hobbs and Chris Wade. Arthun said it's always tough to say goodbye to the seniors and he'll miss having them around.

"It's always a bittersweet night for me," he said. "Although, it's not their last football game here because we moved it forward due to COVID, those are two really good kids that I got to see grow up and that's one of my favorite things about coaching is working with kids and seeing their development."

Clark Fork was without two-time North Star League MVP quarterback Cameron Garcia. He recently suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Arthun said not having Garcia is a big loss for the team, but he's seen some great things from Howard and believes he has a bright future.

Clark Fork (3-1, 1-0 NSL) hosts Mullan on Oct. 9.

Clark Fork 18 6 6 0 — 30

Troy 0 0 8 0 — 8

First quarter

CF — Carter Sanroman 5 yard run (Sanroman run), 2:46

CF — Troy safety, 1:39

CF — Sanroman 20 yard run (Sam Barnett run), 0:43

Second quarter

CF — Sanroman 23 yard run (Ethan Howard run failed), 8:56.

Third quarter

CF — Sanroman 11 yard run (run failed)

Troy — Ben Starks 15 yard run (run good)